If he puts it on there it might save you some money when you can have the return portion of the flight refunded, when he gets incarcerated in China for lying on his Visa application!

But seriously, I see another problem: you are asking if HE should lie, but what about your culpability (in his and the Chinese Gov. mind)? What if something does go wrong whilst in China? Can he then somehow blame YOU? "He made me lie because I was needed in China for work."

On this note (and it appears to be the case) have you talked to HIM thoroughly about it? It's really ultimately HIS decision, not yours and he needs to be made aware of this.